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Kelowna  

Hells Angel surrenders to police

Update (8:56 a.m. Wed): Kelowna RCMP are announcing the arrest of Robert THOMAS, a full patch member of Kelowna Hells Angels. THOMAS turned himself in at the Kelowna Detachment at 3:00 a.m. this morning. He is one of the six individuals charged with second-degree murder of Dain Eldon Phillips that occurred on June 12th, 2011, in Kelowna.

RCMP have unveiled a connection between a murder in Rutland and a drive-by shooting in downtown Kelowna last September.

That connection was made as Kelowna RCMP Southeast District Drug Section and Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit officially announced charges against seven people in the June 12 murder of Dain Phillips in Rutland.

Police say two of those charged, Robert Leonard Thomas, 46, and Norman Robert Cocks, 31, are full patch members of the Kelowna Hells Angels.

Norman's dad,  Robert Charles Cocks, 52, is president of the Throttle Lockers, a Hells Angels support club, while four others, Daniel Joseph McRae, 20, Matthew Thomas McvRae, 19, Anson Lloyd Schell, 19, and Thomas Allen Vaughan, 22, are all associates.

 

RCMP are still looking for Robert Leonard Thomas. All of the others are behind bars.

All seven have been charged with second degree murder.

CFSEU worked closely with Kelowna RCMP to quickly conclude the Phillips murder investigation. The resolution was possible because CFSEU was running a separate investigation involving some of the people charged in the Phillips murder.

In a joint press release, RCMP said the initial investigation evolved in response to the attempted murder of a 27-year-old Edmonton resident while he was driving his vehicle near Leon Avenue and Abbott Street.

The attack took place in the busy downtown core in front of innocent bystanders as the suspects fired multiple gunshots at the victim's vehicle.

They were unable to go into any more details or name suspects because the investigation remains active and continues to unfold.

Phillips was bludgeoned with a baseball bat during a confrontation between two groups of individuals near the intersection of McCurdy and Gibson roads.

He later died as a result of those injuries at Kelowna General Hospital.

Raw: Supt. Pat Fogarty of Organized Crime Agency with details of arrests. (Video-Kelly Hayes)



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